TREVOR WINKFIELD: PAGEANT, text by Jed Perl with an introduction by John Ashbery
Hard Press Editions, 1997, First edition, 54 pp., 8 1/4" X 11 1/4", Softcover
As new (still in publisher's shrinkwrap)
With references to heraldic devices and the conventions of Medieval manuscript illustration, Winkfield creates a reflection of a thoroughly modern world that combines pop-modernism and iconic romanticism. Using an abundance of symbols, He creates an inherent tension in the work, juxtaposing highly-disciplined, stylized forms with unrestrained fantasy of image.In his accompanying essay, critic Jed Perl notes this polarity as, "... an art of cool surfaces and madcap subjects" and writes that "... (An) inimitable aura of oddity and aplomb, the two sensationally mixed, is something that you find in all Winkfield's best work".
If all art aspires toward the condition of mussic, as Pater wrote, Trvor Winkfield must be counted among the most successful artists of all time. A picture such as his great, recent "Voyage II" totally fulfills that condition: the accuracy and surprises of great music, even its linear unscrolling, are what confront us. - John Ashbery